No US National team, no problem we have the constant drama of the Three Lions who are playing tomorrow against the Danish Dynamite. Due to the rigors of the Premier League many of the old faces will not be there including captain, Steven Gerrard. Stevie G picked up a knock over the weekend though many question if he is even slightly hurt. Peter Crouch and Rio Ferdinand are the other main faces that are out with injuries.
The game will be played in Copenhagen, and the Danes always seem to have a great team especially with Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner leading the Denmark attack. The Danes are no slouch to say the least especially in Denmark where they gave the USA B team a blasting. It will be interesting to see how the much criticized Fabio Capello will deal with all the pressure from the Premier League managers about keeping their players away from injury.
England will be looking to recover from the horrible performance in their last friendly where the Three Lions were blown off the pitch in a 2-1 loss to France. That match created the fear all over England that the Three Lions haven't learned from their mistakes they made in South Africa last summer. A strong performance is needed, that much is certain. The last 2 results for England have been ugly to say the least. And the fact that England isn't topping their group in qualifying is just unacceptable especially when a nation like Montenegro is ahead of you.
Now to the game, whether you like it or not the 4-4-2 will most likely be the featured formation for England especially with all the stars that are injured. Frank Lampard will look to make his return to the England Lineup and the media is really hyping up 19 year old Arsenal phenom Jack Wilshere who will probably partner Lamps in midfield. For strikers, Wayne Rooney will look to be the key for England but there's been question to who will partner him.
At the back it will probably be the usual suspects including John Terry and Ashley Cole. It will be interesting to see how the defense plays after they were just completely outplayed by the French a couple months ago. They are going up against a formidable challenge in Nicklas Bendtner and Don Fabio will be looking for new options at center back as a new partnership will need to be made before Euro 2012.
In goal, the Man City ace Joe Hart will once again start with Fulham phenom David Stockdale backing him up. Joe Hart will definitely need to be solid in order for England to get a result. I think there's no doubt barring any horrible errors that Joe Hart will be the England number 1 when Euro 2012 gets here.
Lineup Predictions
Capello's Projected Lineup
-Hart-
Johnson- Lescott - Terry - Cole
Walcott - Lampard- Wilshere - Milner
-Bent - Rooney (C)
Here you have a traditional 4-4-2 with two different kinds of wingers, a flyer and a stop and crosser. Walcott being the flyer and Milner being the stop and crosser. Milner will definitely need to have his crossing abilities up to snuff to be effective in this match and Walcott will need to find space in order to be effective in the attack. Rooney has been reported to being the captain however I wouldn't rule out Lamps getting the arm band. Also the problem I have with this formation is the starting of Joleon Lescott who is a Fabio Capello favorite and is in my opinion the most overrated player in England at the moment.
My lineup
-Hart-
Johnson- Cahill - Terry- Cole
Walcott- Lampard- Wilshere- Young
-Defoe- Rooney (C)
My lineup has a few changes compared to Cabbage Man Capello's especially my use of the wingers. I prefer the use of 2 flyers on the flanks with strikers like Rooney and Defoe who can run onto through balls. The ability of Wilshere and his through balls will also be the X factor as to whether or not England will get the win. In the defense I prefer Gary Cahill over the overrated Joleon Lescott.
Prediction 1-1 draw Goal Scorers: England: Lampard, Denmark: Bendtner
Typical friendly match, not a pretty match to watch and the English media will be looking to pour out more scathing criticisms of Fabio Capello after this performance. Frank Lampard will score a long range goal in this match making noise to try and get himself back into the pecking order of the central midfield. Overall, lots of unanswered questions will be left unanswered after this match.
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